Johnson Space Center



 Today started off rainy so we got off to a slow start.  We arrived at the space center around 11 and stayed until it closed at 7.  Didn't see everything.  First two pics are at the entrance.

To do a tram tour you had to have your picture taken, this is ours.  Actual control center used until the 80's.  It was stored at the Smithsonian and then brought back.

 The oak trees are in memory of the Challenger Astronauts.  Each tour stops for a few minutes of silence here.  Rocket at Rocket Park.  I think it was a Saturn but not sure.

Model of the International Space Station. The last pictures are all taken at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.  This is where the astronauts train using actual parts of the shuttle or mockups of them.  The bottom two are of the Endeavor.

 The place was insane.  Jammed packed with people.  Many India Indians I think they out numbered any other nationality.  We did manage to get most of the available attractions in but didn't get to see a lot of the displays.  Security is unbelievable.  You are checked at the door, purses and any bags are searched.  Owen had his little pocket knife held at security while we were there.  We went on two tram tours, both had even more security.  Again purses and bags were searched and like an airport we had to go through a scanner.  It was cumbersome and wasted way too much time.  The theme of the day was hurry up and wait.  For the most part the wait was rewarded by the attraction.  For now we are totally over people.  By the end of the day most kids were crying and whiny and needed to just go home to bed. Parents seemed to just tune them out and let them run amok. Much of the info was way over the kids heads but there was plenty of other things to entertain them.  Onward to Louisiana in the morning.

 

Kemah Boardwalk

Entrance to Kemah Boardwalk and a view of the boardwalk.

This boat is called the Beast.  It takes you out and races making rapid corners.  You will get wet.  It is only a half hour long.  I didn't think it was worth the price for such a short ride but the boat was jammed packed.

Nice place for a retirement business.  It has a number for more info.  A wooden roller coaster.

A couple more of the rides that are available.
Just a pic of the water.
Had a couple more pics but again we have limited Internet.  It is at our site but when the download started to get real slow I stopped it before we got shut off.  For a huge state it is pretty backwards when it comes to technology.

No excitement on the trip here except for going through a toll booth without paying.  We weren't sure if  EZ Pass would work and when we determined it wouldn't we were in the wrong lane.  There might be a letter with a fine notice when we get home.  We did pay the next two.  All so we didn't have to drive through Houston.  There was a creek called "Woman Hollering" on the way.  Thought that was pretty funny.  We crossed the Guadalupe River and the Colorado River and both had water in them.  They were both a bit low but not dry river beds like we have had up to now.  Our GPS let us down again.  There are highways alongside highways so it is confusing to begin with but "George" had the campground in the wrong spot.  We did Big Ben and the Parliament a couple of times and called for directions.  It was raining a bit when we got here so didn't take any camp pictures, maybe tomorrow.  It is very crowded, have us packed in pretty close but we aren't spending much time here so it is ok.  Tomorrow the Space Center.

San Antonio Tour

Today we did a tour of San Antonio.  Our first stop was the Japanese Sunken Gardens.  It was a stone quarry and is now renowned for its beautiful foliage.  It was a peaceful place with a walkway along koi ponds.  It is being restored and will include a tea room in the future.

These 2 pics were from the Riverboat ride.  It is a part of the Riverwalk from yesterday.  Pic on left was built for the Worlds Fair back in the 60's.  It is a bit taller than the one in Seattle.  The building on the right looks like a free standing wall but is actually a triangular shaped building.  This was about 35 minutes and quite enjoyable.  It was early enough so that it wasn't too hot.

This was our next stop.  It was a unique experience.  Lots of guns on display there was the car (a replica?) of the shot up car of Bonnie and Clyde.  The upstairs consisted on many (and I do mean MANY) stuffed and mounted animals.  It was something that nightmares are made of, just lots of dead stuffed animals looking at you.  There was also an section with "oddities" of nature, such as a two head calf.  Not our favorite stop.  We then walked a couple of blocks to the Alamo. FYI the arched roof of the present building is not original.  The original roof was flat and the arched roof was added and used in all of the movies about the Alamo.  it is situated right in the heart of town but is well preserved.  Again a restoration is in progress.

Alamo on left.  Building on right is the Mission San Jose, the finest example of a completely restored mission in the US.  It is renowned for exquisite stone carvings including the Rose Window which is visible in the next photo.

Rumored to have been carved as a monument to his sweetheart, Rosa but more likely was named after Saint Rose of Lima, the first saint of the New World.  The photo on the right is from the Mission Concepcion.  This is the oldest unrestored stone church in our nation today.  Both mission churches are still active parishes.  They were started to convert indigenous hunters and gatherers into Catholic, tax-paying subjects of the King of Spain.  The Indians went to the mission to survive European disease and raiding Lipan Apaches.  Building began in 1768

From the missions we went to El Mercado which is a Mexican shopping area. The area is filed with little shops selling imported Mexican items. 

Just as another piece of info, San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas and the seventh in the US.  We had a very full day which began much too early (6:30) and we are on the road again in the morning.  See you in Houston.

San Antonio, Riverwalk

 Pretty quiet start to the drive today.  Rolling hills with three 7% downhill grades.  Drove through ranch land.  Another very hot day and white knuckle driving through San Antonio with the camper.

 A couple of campground pics.  Again with no Internet access except at the office.  Very annoying.

We took a city bus (it stops right in front of the KOA) in town to the River Walk.  We are like two country bumpkins, we never ride the bus so had no idea how it worked and we were the whitest people on board.

 The River Walk is the second most visited attraction in San Antonio.  It is "a lively flagstone esplanade that wends 3 miles amid tropical foliage along both banks of the lazy, narrow San Antonio River.  It is lined with lively sidewalk cafes, open-air restaurants, shops and hotels".  The city streets were blazing hot but it was much cooler along the River.  We had a little of a hard time finding our bus stop for the ride home but managed to find it just as the bus was pulling in.  We are taking a tour bus tomorrow.  I am rather like a salt lick right now and am off to shower. 

Llano River, Junction, TX

Just a pic from on the road.  The landscape is slowly changing.  More green and trees are reappearing. Still had low shrubs, cacti and buttes along with wind mills, oil pumps and small oil tanks.  A necessary evil, laundry.  Convenient at the campground but not cheap.

This campground is on the Llano River.  As you can see you can swim in the river....if you could find any water.

There was a couple of puddles and then a bit more water looking the other way.

Our site was shaded with a huge pecan tree.

During our walk this evening we came upon a herd of deer.  We sort of played red light with them.  They would look down and we would creep forward.  The larger part of the herd was to the left.  One of them gave the danger signal and most ran off to the river.  These few stayed and just looked at us.

Just another view of our camper.  We drove through total nothing today.  We got gas at a place in the middle of nowhere, it was $4 a gallon!  We had no choice. 

Highlight of today was the sighting of a roadrunner!  It was along side of the road hunting.  Never saw one in NM (the state bird) had to wait to see it in TX.  Also have painted bunting, pretty little birds, bluish green with bright orange bellies.  Still very hot and a bit more humid.  Record heat continues where ever we go.

Junction, TX

Just a quick note to say that the Internet service here is terrible.  Nothing loads.  Pictures for today only partially uploaded.  For a state the size of Texas you would think we might get decent servers but that isn't the case.  Guess we are still too far out in the sticks for that.  Will try again tomorrow to upload the pics from today.  We will be outside of San Antonio so hope for better coverage.  Phone service isn't very reliable either.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day, see you then.

Fort Stockton, TX

 An uneventful drive over miles of straight highway with rolling hills.  This will be a short day for us since we are back in Central Time Zone.  A couple of pics from the road and one of an oil derrick.  Many pumps and oil rigs along the road.

Stopped at a little Western Museum in Pecos.  It was an old saloon with plackards marking the place where two people died during a shoot out and you could see bullet holes in the door frame.  Amazing what was in this place.

This is one of many pieces of "art" that is made out of arrow heads.  There had to be thousands of arrow heads among other artifacts.  On the right is an old cupboard that included a flour bin with a built in sifter.  Put this because I remember there being on in my Mom's old house.  Don't know what ever happeded to it but it did bring back memories.

The trailer was just a bit warm when we parked.  Top number is the outside the bottom two are inside temps and humidity.  The lady that checked us in said it wouldn't rain and that it hadn't rained in a year.  Just so you can see the puddles from that rain that didn't fall.  Most of it has already sucked into the ground.

Just a couple pics of the rainbow during the storm.  It was huge.  No campground pics due to the rain.  Another place with very limited Internet and no tv stations.  Only here tonight then onward in the morning.  We'll be heading East!